


Sailor Moon

by thefullmetaledwardelric



Series: A New Senshi [2]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 07:37:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2301722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefullmetaledwardelric/pseuds/thefullmetaledwardelric





	1. What Just Happened?

The world was flying by at what seemed like light speed. Well Natalie could only assume it was the world, she really had no idea what was happening or what any of this was. Before she knew it, another portal opened and she had fallen hard. What the heck had just happened to her? Natalie stood up, rubbing her aching rear end and looked around. It was dark and empty; she could barely see a thing.

Just then, she heard footsteps coming in her direction. At least it sounded like they were coming at her; it was hard to tell exactly with the echo. Then a small light came into view.

“This is bad, I gotta hide,” Natalie thought to herself as she turned to head away from the light. She tried to find a door, a break in the wall, anywhere to hide but there was nothing. She was trapped. The footsteps came closer and closer and now Natalie could slightly make out the person holding the light. It looked like a little kid holding a toy. This might not be so bad after all.

“Sailor Pluto? Is that you? Why are you on this side of the door?” asked the child as she approached. The closer she got, the more Natalie could see. This kid looked familiar, but why? Then she saw the rabbit ear like buns in the girl’s hair. She only knew of one person that had hair like that, Rini. Was she still at the convention after all? No, that wasn’t possible. Natalie knew she had fallen through the portal; there was no way this place was in the convention center.

“Pluto?” the little girl said again. Natalie had to say something but what? Oh that’s right, there was something that Sailor Pluto had always called Rini…

“Yes Small Lady?” she said bowing her head a bit.

“You sound funny… and why are you here? Why aren’t you at the gate like always? I thought you couldn’t leave…”

Natalie knew she was in a tight spot already. Her costume had been good enough to make even Rini think she was the real thing but the moment she spoke she knew she had blown it. Should she say anything else? What would happen if she didn’t? Her mind was blank, she couldn’t respond… then a door opened at the end of the hall. The real Sailor Pluto had heard Rini and Natalie.

Rini looked from Natalie to the real Pluto and then back to Natalie. “You’re a fake!!!! Help!!! There’s an imposter Pluto in the castle!!!!!!”

Natalie panicked. She ran past Rini up the hallway. She had no idea where she was going but it had to be better than here. Natalie didn’t get far before she ran head long into someone else.

“Hold it right there!” came a woman’s voice as she grabbed a hold of Natalie. “Who are you? How did you get in here?”

Natalie’s eyes went wide. She felt as if she wanted to cry but she was too scared to do anything.

“Answer me…” her captor pressed.

She wanted to answer but she couldn’t find the words. She didn’t even know the answer herself but even if she did have the answer there’s no way the words would have come out. Natalie knew she had to at least try. If this was who she thought it was, she’d definitely be in trouble if didn’t.

“I… um… I…” she stuttered. This just wasn’t going to happen.

At that point, someone else came up behind Natalie’s captor. “Venus, go easy…” came the lightly husky voice of Sailor Jupiter as she placed her hand on Venus’ shoulder. It didn’t take long for Jupiter to see the look of panic written all over Natalie’s face. This girl was far too frightened and confused to be any threat to them and Jupiter could tell. “Let’s take her to the Queen and see what she has to say.”

“But Jupiter, she’s an intruder and doesn’t belong here. She’s even trying to impersonate Sailor Pluto!”

Jupiter nodded, “I know but we’re not going to get answers from her by scaring her to death.”

Rini had come up behind Natalie by now and stood there smiling at Venus and Jupiter, happy to see they had caught the imposter. Jupiter motioned for her to come over. “Rini, can you head back upstairs and tell the Queen what’s happened? Let her know that we’re bringing the intruder up to the main hall to get a judgment?”

Nodding happily, Rini chimed, “Sure Jupiter!” She then ran off up the hallway and out of sight.

“Now, are you sure you have nothing to say before we take you upstairs imposter?” Venus asked her voice just as harsh as it had been before. Natalie shook her head. There was no way she was going to be able to anything.

Venus made a bit of a disappointed face and shrugged. “Fine… off we go…”

Jupiter and Venus took one arm each and escorted Natalie out of the bowels of the castle. She didn’t resist at all. She recognized this place now… where she was, who she was with. She had no idea how she had gotten here but she was in the crystal palace of Crystal Tokyo.


	2. I'm Who Now?

Natalie didn’t say a word as Venus and Jupiter escorted her up to the main hall. Both scouts looked as if they wanted to ask Natalie something, some burning question that they knew they couldn’t ask.

When they arrived to the main hall, the Queen had not yet arrived herself but Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury were standing on either side of the twin thrones at the head of the hall. No one said a word. The silence was deafening to Natalie. If they were going to do something to her, she just wanted them to get it over with.

Venus would be the one to break the silence. “How did you do it?” she asked, looking rather agitated towards Natalie.

Natalie swallowed hard. “Do what?” she asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible. The last thing she wanted to do was set anyone off, especially Venus.

Venus eyed her a bit. “Don’t play dumb with me… How did you get into the Crystal Palace, little own the very bottom most hallways? Only the royal family of the Silver Millennium and the guardian scouts can enter here…”

Just then Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion entered the hall, Rini following right behind. “Enough Venus,” she said in a stern but calm and gentle voice.

“Yes Your Highness,” Venus said as she bent to one knee. The other scouts did the same then Venus and Jupiter took up their places with Mars and Mercury.

Serenity smiled gently as she turned her gaze to Natalie. “Now, let me have a look…” she said as she walked over to Natalie and smiled. Looking into the girl’s eyes, she nodded. “Ah, yes, I know how you get in here young lady. Don’t worry, you’re among friends here.” She then turned her gaze to Rini for a moment. “Small Lady, would you go back to the gate and bring Sailor Pluto up here for me?”

Rini looked at her mother confused. “Yes momma, but I thought that Sailor Pluto wasn’t supposed to leave her place there at the gate… she always said she wasn’t allowed to leave when I asked her to…”

Serenity bent down and placed her finger to her daughter’s lips to quiet her. “It’ll be alright just this once. Just tell her I asked for her.”

Trusting her mother’s judgment, she nodded and ran off back down the hall to the basement hallways that lead to the Fourth Dimensional gateway door. Once Rini was off on her errand, Serenity stood and went over to her throne taking a seat. King Endymion had already done so. This meant that Natalie was standing all alone before Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion. This was not possible, she knew who they all were yes, but to be here just wasn’t realistically possible.

Taking a deep breath, Natalie finally decided to say something. “Your Highness, excuse my rudeness but this is not possible.”

“What isn’t possible?”

She looked around her arms outstretched. “This, the palace, you, the scouts… It’s all fiction. I’ve read about you guys in books, you’re just fictional characters. It’s impossible for me to be here at all.”

Serenity could do nothing but laugh a bit. “I apologize for laughing but I couldn’t help myself…”

Natalie looked at her exasperated and fell to her knees. She was so confused and scared and here Serenity was laughing at her. The benevolent and kind Neo Queen Serenity was laughing at her. All she wanted to do was go home. Being here wasn’t as much fun as she once upon a time thought it might be. Tears started to stream down her cheeks.

Serenity went over to Natalie and knelt beside her, putting her hand on Natalie’s shoulder. “Oh my, I never meant to make you cry young lady…”

“Natalie…” Natalie whispered.

“Excuse me?”

“My name… its Natalie…”

Serenity smiled and helped Natalie to her feet. As she did, Rini returned with Sailor Pluto. “Oh good, they’ve arrived. Come Natalie, I think we can put an end to your confusion now. I’m sorry to bring you up here Pluto, but what I’m about to reveal effects you almost as much as it does this young lady here.”

Pluto nodded. “It’s alright Queen. I’m sure things will be fine for a few minutes.”

Serenity smiled as she took both of Natalie’s hands in hers. “Natalie, you were able to come to this world, able to set foot within this castle because you are a sailor scout, Sailor Charon to be exact.”

Every jaw in the room, save those of the King and Queen dropped. Natalie looked at Serenity in utter disbelief.

“You’re joking with me right? This is some kind of dream right? If I pinch myself I’m going to wake up back in my hotel room at the convention… Too much pocky and ramune yeah that’s it. I had to have passed out from too much snacking… I knew there was no way this was really happening…”

Serenity shook her head. “No, you’re not dreaming Natalie. This is all very real. Here, let me show you…” At that King Endymion walked over and handed Serenity her scepter. “Thank you.” Taking the scepter in her hands she lightly touched it to Natalie’s hand. In it appeared a pen with a star on the top and within that star was the symbol of Charon. “Now all you have to do as hold that pen up and say ‘Charon Star Power Make Up’ and you’ll become your true sailor scout self instead of a copy of your twin star Pluto…”

When Serenity said this it caused Pluto to look at Serenity oddly. “My twin star Queen?”

Serenity nodded. “Yes Pluto. As we have come to know, what we once thought was just a moon of the planet Pluto is actually a twin planet, Charon. The two revolve around the sun together as they revolve around each other. It truly is a unique configuration in our system. But because of this, Charon also has a guardian star with special duties very similar to yours.”

“So this is why you wanted me here…” Pluto said softly.

Serenity nodded. “Yes.” She then turned her attention back to Natalie. “Now my dear, if you would be so kind…”

Natalie looked down at the pen then up to Serenity still unsure but then what could it hurt right? The most that she figured would happen was that she’d hold this pen up and nothing would happen and the worst she would be is embarrassed in a dream. But what if it did work? What then? Could she really be a real sailor scout? She did have to admit, to have powers would be kind of cool. She had secretly wished that this were actually possible as she’d read about the adventures of Sailor Moon and her guardian scouts.

That was it, she had her answer. She wanted this. “Here goes…” Natalie held the pen high and said what Neo Queen Serenity had told her to, “Charon Star Power Make Up!”

The pen sparked to life covering her in brilliant light. The costume that she had been wearing changed, switching colors. The bows becoming deep blue; the skirt, the collar, and her knee high boots becoming a deep crimson. Her hair slipped from the bun and became a very long pony tail. The staff in her hands changed as well. It no longer looked like a large key with the garnet orb in a heart. Instead it had transformed into what appeared to be the pole of a ferryman. At the top was an intricately designed lantern and within the lantern a faint light shown. She was Sailor Pluto’s mirror image with her own staff.

When the light vanished, Natalie stood before everyone as Sailor Charon. She looked down at herself holding the staff in her hands. This was really happening right? She had just transformed into a sailor scout. Her eyes lit up as she looked over to Serenity who smiled warmly at her.

“Go ahead and pinch yourself… if you still feel the need but I assure you, you won’t wake up from any dream…”

Charon shook her head. “No Queen, I believe you but what I don’t understand still is how I got here…”

“That’s your power as a scout. Just as Pluto is the keeper of Time, you are the keeper of Space. Your power allows you to travel to any place that exists. Your own power is what brought you here.”

“But I wasn’t a scout then. How did I activate my power?”

“You’ve always been a scout Charon, the power has always been within you just in a dormant state. When it was time, it activated on its own, all I did was provide you with the instrument to tap into the power you were born with at will.”


	3. The Bigger Picture

Natalie looked down at herself and at her staff. “So you’re telling me I can go anywhere I want to?”

Serenity nodded. “Yes, _you_ can but just as Pluto has taboos so do you…”

Taboos, Natalie knew about that. She remembered seeing that Pluto had three of them, don’t allow time travel, don’t leave her post, and don’t stop time. The first two were more forgivable but the third; Pluto had paid with her life when she’d broken that one. Evidently that had yet to occur here though since Pluto was clearly still here. “What is my taboo?” she asked bracing herself for what was to come.

“Yours is simple Charon, you must never take someone from their world. It is ill advised for you to take anyone at all, as they could get separated from you and be stuck between worlds and lost forever…”

“Like not having a key when going through the fourth dimension…”

“Exactly.”

Pluto chimed in at this. “Wait, how did you already know about the fourth dimension?” She looked concerned. No one was supposed to know about the fourth dimension unless they were of the Silver Millennium. This girl had just found out about her place, there was no way she should have known.

Natalie started to sweat a bit. She’d messed up again it would seem. “Well… um…” Her mind raced. Was it alright for her to tell them how this place and everyone here was a story in her world?

As if reading Natalie’s thoughts, Serenity clarified her confusion. “It’s alright; you can tell her how you know. I’m thinking the other scouts heard you mention it earlier.”

“Well, if it’s not going to hurt anything. You see, in my world, I’ve seen your story as a television show and read about it in books. Back home, everyone here is just a fictional character.”

The room was silent. The looks in everyone’s eyes was that of confusion, not knowing how this could be possible. They were real and they knew it. They bled when cut, cried, laughed, everything a living, breathing person could do. The others must have missed it earlier when she said it or maybe they thought now was a better time to actually react to it.

“Queen…” started Pluto.

Serenity shook her head. “Its truth, there are multiple ‘worlds’ that exist in this universe. We of all people should know this. So yes, in Charon’s world, it is very possible that our world is just a story. There are documented cases of people having visions of other worlds and then writing about them. And who are we to question the possibility that when someone creates a world as a story that somewhere it doesn’t actually come into existence? There are infinite possibilities out there. The world in which we live is nothing but a sliver of existence. Sailor Charon has been gifted with the ability to go to any of them that she wishes.”

Pluto nodded, accepting this. She knew the Queen was right. The existence of the fourth dimension was actually more than enough proof that all of this was possible.

Natalie looked at Serenity. “I just have one other question though.”

“What is that?”

“Given that I am a Sailor Scout, why was I born into my world and not into this one? I’m assuming that I existed when the old Silver Millennium was destroyed, why did I end up in a different place?”

Serenity took a deep breath and sighed. “You should have been reborn with us but when our star seeds were sent to the Earth of that time’s future, yours also jumped through space. It would seem your power had an effect even though your spirit was dormant. To be honest, it was only recently that I discovered your existence myself.”

Natalie’s brow perked a bit when the Queen mentioned this. “Really?”

Serenity nodded. “Yes. I had been going through records in our archives and saw references to you in the systems from the old castle on the moon. References to your former life would actually be more accurate. I had wondered what had happened to you and started looking for more information, that’s how I knew why you hadn’t been reborn with us. It was just a matter of time though before you returned to us once your reborn power matured, I was sure of it.”

This was heavy. There was so much for Natalie to take in. Now she knew how Serenity had felt when she’d awakened as Sailor Moon and maybe even a little of what it felt like when she also found out she was the princess. “Why don’t I remember any of this? Shouldn’t I have had memories come back to me when I awakened as a scout?”

Serenity sighed. “This I can’t explain. Maybe in time the memories will come back but for now that’s all I can offer you.”

Natalie nodded taking a deep breath. “OK. So what happens now?”

“That, Charon, is up to you.”


	4. A Momentary Breather

It had taken a bit but Natalie had finally been left to her own devises in the palace, sort of. Jupiter had to stay with her but other than that she could come and go as she pleased. There was a part of her that wanted to explore the palace but then she still wasn’t exactly fully trusted yet so maybe wandering about was a bad idea. But outside the palace wasn’t out of the question.

“Jupiter, is it alright if we go outside of the palace?”

“I don’t see why not. Besides, the Queen asked me to show you around a bit.”

“Do we change or…”

Jupiter chuckled. “It doesn’t matter. The people are used to seeing us so we can go with whatever makes you more comfortable.”

Natalie thought about it then blushed a bit. “Well I’d like to change but I just remembered that when I came I was dressed in my Sailor Pluto costume from the convention…”

Jupiter looked at her a bit strangely. “Oh yeah, that disguise you were wearing when you got here. That was a cosplay costume?”

“Yup. I made it myself, well most of it. I’m actually rather proud of it. But anyway, I don’t think it’s a good idea to go out in that. I’m pretty sure the people don’t know about Pluto… and I know they don’t know about me…”

“You’re right. We need to get you something to wear first before we go. Here, come with me.” Jupiter took Natalie’s hand and led her down a hallway to a room. “This is my room here in the palace. I have a decent sized wardrobe so you’re welcome to wear anything you like.”

Natalie smiled. “Thanks Jupiter.” She paused before going to look for something. “Um, how do I transform back?”

Jupiter couldn’t help but to laugh. “Probably would be helpful to know huh? Here I’ll show you.” She put her hand to the jewel in the center of her bow and in a flash of light she had transformed back, her transformation pen in her hand. “Easy,” she said with a smile.

“OK, here goes.” Natalie did just as Jupiter had shown her. She put her hand to her jewel and in a flash of light she was back in her Sailor Pluto costume but her staff was completely gone. “What the heck?”

“What’s the matter?”

“My staff is gone. I had a replica of Pluto’s staff when I got here and when I transformed it did too. Why didn’t it go back to normal when I did?”

Jupiter thought about it for a moment but the unsure look told Natalie that she didn’t know, not for certain anyway. “The only reason I can think of is that maybe when you transformed it actually became your new staff. I could be wrong though. Maybe ask Neo Queen Serenity later when we see her again.”

Signing heavily, Natalie nodded. She was actually pretty disappointed. It had taken her so much effort to make that staff and she was really proud of it. Hopefully Jupiter was wrong but she really didn’t think so. It was probably better to not dwell on it for now.

Natalie picked out a simple t-shirt and jeans from the closet and looked for a place to get changed.

“You want me to step outside, give you a little privacy?” Jupiter asked.

“Please?” Natalie replied, blushing a bit. She was used to changing in front of Amy and Katie but they were her friends. Getting dressed in front of a stranger, even if it was another girl, made her a bit uncomfortable.

Jupiter chuckled. “No problem. I think you can be left alone long enough for that. Besides, I don’t think you’re really any danger to us any way.”

Well at least someone trusted her, at least a little. It didn’t take her long to change and join Jupiter in the hall. She looked a little embarrassed since she still had on her boots from the costume. They didn’t exactly go well with the t-shirt and jeans look. “Um, I tried to find a pair of shoes too but none of yours fit…”

“Well then a shoe store should probably be our first stop. You ready to go?”

Natalie nodded and they made their way out of the castle. It didn’t take long for Natalie to be mesmerized by the city that surrounded the castle. “Wow, this is so much more than I expected. Is the whole city made from the crystal too?” Natalie had no idea of this. The manga and the anime had never gotten into the places outside of the castle save showing the wasteland that the Black Poison Crystal monoliths had made the place. She’d already figured out that she had arrived before that had all happened. She made a mental note not to mention it either. Natalie had no idea what would happen if she did tell them. She just hoped that she wouldn’t be here when it did actually happen.

“No, just the few buildings close to the palace are but the rest of the city is pretty sturdy even if it isn’t made of the Silver Crystal like the palace.”

As they walked along, Natalie couldn’t help but to notice how peaceful everything was. Everyone was so friendly. It certainly wasn’t like this back home. Even the lady in the shoe store pretty much fell over herself to help them.

“Is everyone like this all the time?” Natalie asked.

“Well, ever since Neo Queen Serenity became ruler and their life spans were increased, people generally became happier. They tend to go a little more overboard for us though even though we insist they don’t have to,” Jupiter replied.

“Yeah but I’d rather have them this way. Back home…” Natalie was cut off by the sound of an explosion that came from the direction of the palace.

“Oh no, the palace!” Jupiter exclaimed grabbing a hold of Natalie’s arm. “We have to go! Transform!”

“What? Huh?”

“No time! We have to go!” Jupiter took her pen from her pocket and held it up. “Jupiter Star Power Make Up!” In a flash of light, she had become Sailor Jupiter once more.

“Charon Star Power Make Up!” Natalie yelled as she held up her own pen. She had no idea what was going on but she knew she would soon find out.


	5. Experience is the Best Teacher

Natalie and Jupiter arrived at the palace to find that the other scouts were already there waiting for them.

“Where have you been?” asked Mars.

“I had taken Charon out into the city to look around. What happened?”

“It came out of nowhere, we didn’t even pick it up on the scanners before the palace was hit,” Mercury answered.

Natalie hung back, just trying to keep out of the way. What could she do to help anyway? She knew so little about this place or even about her own powers.

“Right now, we can’t even get close enough to the site to figure out what it was. The Queen is managing to keep it contained for now…” Venus added.

“Contained?” asked Jupiter.

“Yeah, it was giving off this strange gas after it landed. A few of the people in the palace passed out from it but they didn’t seem to be in any major danger. Since they did pass out though, the Queen didn’t want to take any chances. That’s the reason we can’t get near it right now to find out any more,” answered Mercury.

“We should go back to the Queen. We only left to try and find the two of you,” Mars said, sounding more than a bit cross.

Nodding in agreement they all started to head into the palace. Natalie still hung back. She was scared out of her mind. How was she supposed to deal with this?

Jupiter noticed quickly that Natalie wasn’t coming. “What are you waiting for? Come on…”

Natalie shook her head. “I don’t think… that is… I can’t…”

Jupiter went back over to Natalie and put her hand on her shoulder. “I get it, you’re scared. We all were the first time we were faced with having to fight, the Queen especially, but you have to find a way to overcome it. If you couldn’t do this you wouldn’t have been born with it inside of you.”

“How did you do it?”

Jupiter sighed softly and smiled. “I just remember that I have people dear to me that I want to protect. If I don’t fight for them I know I’ll lose them and I don’t handle losing people very well, contrary to what people might think otherwise. You have to find your own reason though.”

Natalie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She needed to find her reason, her way to overcome the fear. Her mom came to mind and how hard she had worked to raise Natalie all by herself. What would her mom say if she didn’t give it everything she had? What would Amy, her best friend in the world, say? They would both smack her silly for second guessing herself because it wasn’t like her.

Opening her eyes, she looked at Jupiter with newly gained resolve. “OK, I think I’m ready now.”

“Think?”

“I KNOW I’m ready.”

“That’s better. Now, let’s go and catch up to the others.”

Running, Jupiter and Natalie caught up to the other scouts as they entered the main hall. Serenity and Endymion were already there. The look on the Queen’s face did not give Natalie a good feeling. That and she looked so tired. Whatever this was, it was taking a rather large toll on her. This was all too familiar to Natalie. The Black Poison Crystal monoliths had done something like this to the world. The people started out by only passing out but then they gradually started wasting away. They hadn’t launched the monolith in to the palace directly then though and the thing that hit was no monolith, that was clear.

“Scouts, the gas that was emanating from the object that struck the palace has started to subside. It’s safe enough now, I think, so please, go down there retrieve the object and see that it safely makes it to the labs?”

They all nodded. “Leave it to us Queen,” Venus replied.

Leaving the main hall, they headed outside to the impact site. Slowly the silver crystal that surrounded the area melted away revealing a basketball sized projectile. It was black as night and looked more like a pod than a projectile.

“How do we move this without touching it?” asked Mars. “I don’t think it would be safe to touch it.”

“I agree,” said Mercury as she took out her computer and started to see if there was anything she could learn to make their task safe and easier.

Natalie watched as they all went back and forth trying to figure this out. She had an idea but she was nervous. “Um… can I give it a try?” she asked her voice shaky from her nerves.

“What did you have in mind Charon?” Jupiter asked.

Natalie took a deep breath to try and steady her voice. “Well since my power is to be able to travel anywhere, I was thinking that I might be able to open a portal under the object to the lab’s containment area. That way it would get where we need it to be and we don’t have to take risks and touch it. The people in the lab should already be outfitted to handle it so…”

“Do you think you can do something that precise?” asked Mercury.

“I honestly don’t know but I won’t know unless I try right?” Natalie tried very hard to sound more confident about this idea than she felt. It must have worked because Mercury nodded at her.

“Alright, let’s give this a shot,” Natalie said as she walked over to the object. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the lab and the containment area. She didn’t know what it looked like or exactly where it was in the palace but she hoped that just knowing that it was there and where she wanted it to be that would be enough. With that in mind she lowered her staff to the ground and opened the portal below the object and it fell through to the lab with a crashing thud. Seems she had miscalculated a little and the portal had opened up in the ceiling of the lab itself instead of in the containment area.

“Sorry!” Natalie called through the portal just before it closed. She turned to look at the other scouts smiling. She was a little embarrassed that she hadn’t gotten it 100% right but it had worked none the less. She was actually pretty proud of herself, she had used her new powers and she had managed to help.

“Good job Charon,” Venus said, smiling at her for the first time since she’d arrived. “Let’s head back in and see if we can help the people in the lab. The sooner we can figure out who or what attacked us, the better.”

Natalie and the rest of the scouts nodded in agreement the headed back inside. Natalie was finally starting to feel better about this whole sailor scout thing now that she had constructively used her powers. She had to wonder though; did she have an offensive power? If the time came that she might need one, she hoped that it would come to her as instinctively as the traveling power had just with a better ability to aim.


	6. Never Say It Could Be Worse... It Usually Will Be

The scouts hadn’t even made it all the way to the lab when a technician came running down the hallway in a panic. Mars tried to stop him but he resisted and managed to get away. It didn’t matter though; a wave of others came running down the hallway. Mars managed to snag one of the women.

“What’s going on? Why is everyone running away?”

The panicked woman didn’t seem like she wanted to talk but she also knew that Mars wasn’t going to let her go.

“The object… it… it… was a pod… cracked when… when it dropped…” the woman answered trying to talk between gasps of breath. “Something came out… started sucking life… barely made it out…”

“Is it running free in there?”

“No… we managed to lock it in the clean room before we escaped…”

Mars nodded. “Thanks,” she said as she let the panicked woman go. “Well what now?”

Mercury thought about it for a moment then took a deep breath. “Well we need to check it out for ourselves and someone needs to let the Queen know that we have a problem down here.”

“I’ll go,” Venus replied. “If it’s some sort of gas monster, my power will probably be the least effective against it.”

“Alright, but hurry back just in case,” Mars said.

With that Venus nodded and hurried off. The other scouts continued towards the lab. When they arrived they saw multiple bodies on the floor. Every one of them was a motionless, dried out husk.

“This is awful…” Natalie said, her voice hushed from the shock she felt at the sight of them. “How could anyone do something like this?”

“Unfortunately there’s a part of you that kind of gets used to this. We saw it more in the old days though, not so much now,” Jupiter replied.

“I don’t know as you ever really get used to it,” Mercury said, her voice solemn and soft.

“I hope I don’t have to,” Natalie said as she knelt down beside one of the dried up scientists closing its eternally terrified eyes.

They had barely had proper time to look around when they heard something slam against the clean room glass. It sounded like a mallet. When they looked to see the source of the noise, they saw this hideous monster with tentacles coming from its back. In each one, there was a person clutched tightly, looking just as dead and hollow as the ones they had already seen. In turn, the monster slammed each body against the glass in an attempt to free itself. It was also saying something but they couldn’t hear a word. Mercury went over to a control panel and pressed a button.

“…I will have you all! Let me out of here!” the monster’s voice hissed.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Mercury said into the microphone.

“Fools! I am the great and powerful Nexia! I will consume you all and rule this world!”

“Not likely alien scum,” Jupiter said. Her voice was filled with contempt for the creature.

This made Nexia all the madder. With refueled anger the creature pounded harder and harder on the glass. Mercury knew the glass wasn’t going to hold too much longer. They had to figure out a plan. Mercury tapped away at the control panel and its attached computer trying to figure out what they were dealing with in more detail.

“From what I can tell, it seems like she uses the life forces of people to form herself and gain strength. As long as we can keep her from draining anyone else we might have a chance.”

“But that still leaves us with the trouble of destroying her without letting her out…” Mars replied.

Natalie felt horrible this entire time. It had been her fault that the capsule had cracked. If she had aimed right it never would have fallen. She had to do something to fix this.

“This is my fault. Please, let me try to fix it.”

“Charon…” Jupiter started but Natalie cut her off.

“No Jupiter, I need to do this.”

“But it’s not your fault. We need to work together…”

“No. I didn’t do what I needed to do before. I didn’t aim the portal right and the capsule fell and cracked. I’m not about to let you guys put your lives on the line to clean up my mistake.”

Mars stepped over to Natalie and stared at her. Then out of nowhere, Mars slapped Natalie across the face.

“Hey! What was that for?!” Natalie yelled.

Mars crossed her arms and looked at Natalie, her gaze stern and almost cold. “Someone had to smack some sense into you. I swear, you remind me of the Queen in her early days as a scout, always running in without thinking and getting herself in trouble. Look, we all make mistakes OK? It happens but we can’t just let you go in there half cocked and get yourself killed. We work as a team around here. We make mistakes together, we fix them… TOGETHER. Got it?”

Jupiter shook her head, chuckling a bit. “Way to lay down the law there Mars.” She then went over to Natalie and put her hand on Natalie’s shoulder. “Look, Mars is right. We always stick together, that’s how it is, and that’s how we were always able to protect everyone. Our power comes from our trust and friendship. I figured you’d have known that given that you said you read all about us.”

Natalie couldn’t help but to laugh. She _should_ have known better. How long had she been watching the anime? How many times had she read the manga? More than she could count. Shaking it off Natalie looked at the other scouts. “OK, but I have an idea and if it is going to work it’ll need all of us.”

“No problem Charon. What did you have in mind?” asked Jupiter.

“Well we can’t let it out so I’m thinking maybe we can open the door…”

Mercury interrupted her. “I’m sorry but it seems that the door is jammed.”

“Of course it is,” Natalie said with a sigh. “Well then we’ll have to make one of our own.” Natalie held her staff, looking determined. “I’ll make a portal. I should be able to get this one to work better since it just has to be in this one spot.”

Mars looked at her a bit concerned. She was all for allowing her to practice her power to get a handle on it but this was a bit too important, too much on the line, if it went wrong again. Natalie saw the look on her face but it didn’t put a dent in Natalie’s resolve and determination. She could do this and she knew it.

“Once I have the portal open, you guys fire away at it, getting it as weak as possible so that we can contain it again. Maybe, if we get lucky we can even get the life energy back to some of the people too.”

As Natalie finished her explanation, Venus returned, Queen Serenity right behind her.

“If you can weaken it, I can certainly return the life to these people,” the Queen said.

Natalie turned and smiled at the Queen. She wanted nothing more than to help these people because she still felt guilty about all of this happening in the first place.

“Alright, are we ready to do this?” Jupiter asked.

They all nodded and took their positions. Natalie stood behind the others with the Queen. She had no sooner lifted her staff to open the portal than the glass in front of them broke. All this time the monster had still been beating away at the glass and had finally broken through. Natalie’s first instinct was to shield the Queen.

Mercury took the first shot. “Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!” she called out unleashing a blast at the monster. It knocked Nexia backwards but that wouldn’t hold it long.

“Mars Flame Sniper!” called out Mars as a blast of fire shot into the monster. Her attack wounded Nexia causing her to writhe in pain but it still hadn’t been enough. Nexia continued to come towards them.

“Such powerful energy! I will have it for myself! I am more powerful than you and shall have you and this world, no this entire system, all for myself!!”

“Let me give it a try. Venus Love and Beauty Shock!” called out Venus as she unleashed an intense wave of energy at Nexia knocking her back again. “Keep it up scouts! We have to weaken her!”

“My turn. Jupiter Oak Evolution!”

The scouts kept pounding away, launching attack after attack, each time knocking her back but not enough to do enough damage.

Natalie stayed with the Queen but she wanted to fight. How could she though? She didn’t have any offensive power that she knew of but she couldn’t just sit here either. The scouts were taking a beating, they couldn’t take much more. The more attacks they made, the angrier the monster became. Finally Nexia had had enough, her tentacles lashed out grabbing a hold of the tired inner scouts.

“Now annoying brats, your lives will be mine!” Nexia screamed as she started to squeeze the life from them.

“No!” Natalie yelled as she leapt forward and pointed her staff at the creature. Something was brewing deep within her and it felt like it could burst out of her at any second. “Charon Spatial Rift!” she called. A massive blast of energy came from the light within the lantern atop Natalie’s staff crashing into the monster. At first it didn’t appear as it had had any effect on the monster but after a moment Nexia blew apart. The pieces fell to the ground along with the other scouts.

Natalie just stood there, her eyes wide, her jaw agape. She couldn’t believe what had just happened, that she had just done this. Serenity placed her hand on Natalie’s shoulder. “Exactly what I’d expect from an outer scout. Good job Charon.” She then walked over to the remains of the monster and using her power, she extracted the last remaining life from the monster reducing it to dust. As she did, the life returned to the people in the lab. Slowly they all started to come back and wake up.


	7. The Next Step

A week had passed since the battle with Nexia. Natalie had spent that time training her powers under the coaching of the other scouts. She had gotten really good at using her portals. She was now able to easily create a portal and have it come out exactly where she wanted. They had spent time working with her on the Spatial Rift as well.

Natalie was actually surprised by how the power worked. Spatial Rift basically created an unstable portal within whoever or whatever was hit by it, blowing the target apart when the portal collapsed. She had to make sure to use that power carefully. It wouldn’t be good if she accidently blew up an innocent person. Natalie was pretty sure though that once she left Crystal Tokyo she would never have to use that power again or at least she hoped she wouldn’t have to.

That got her to thinking, how much longer was she going to stay here? Had time passed back home? If it had, how was she going to explain this? Wait, who said she even had to go home at all? She wasn’t actually ready to go home yet. If she could come here, how many other worlds that she thought were only stories could she go to? That gave her an idea but she wasn’t really sure she should go there. Natalie decided to think about it a bit more. Who was she kidding? Of course she was going to go there. This was just too good to pass on.

Sitting in the room that Serenity had allowed her to use Natalie stared out the window, thinking about the possibilities. When Jupiter knocked, it almost made Natalie jump out of her skin.

“Hey Charon, what’s up?”

“Just thinking about some things.”

“Mind if I come in?”

Natalie motioned for her to come in. “Sure, make yourself at home.”

“Something bothering you?” Jupiter asked as she sat on the bed. She could see that Natalie had something pretty heavy on her mind.

Natalie sighed slightly. “Not really bothering me. I was just thinking about what to do next.”

“Next?”

“Yeah, next. I can’t stay here forever but I don’t exactly want to go home yet. I was thinking about what worlds I wanted to visit before I finally did go home.”

Jupiter looked at Natalie sadly. She didn’t want her to go. “You know, you don’t have to leave. I’m sure if you talked to her, the Queen would let you stay. Besides, you’re one of us now.”

“I’m an outer though. I was never meant to stay here in the palace and protect the Queen directly. That is the job of you and the other inner scouts. Besides, I can’t get it out of my head the fact that the Queen made a point to call me an outer after the fight with Nexia was over. It was like she was telling me that it’s alright if I want to pursue my own path.”

Jupiter shook her head. “I don’t think she meant that you had to leave though, not unless that’s what you really want.”

Natalie got up and sat next to Jupiter. She couldn’t help but smile at her. “I know what you’re trying to do and I appreciate it. I could stay here; it’s just that there _are_ other places I want to see. Besides, if I don’t eventually go home, there are people there that would never forgive me for leaving without saying good-bye.”

Jupiter sighed heavily knowing that she couldn’t stop Natalie from going. It was clear that she had already made up her mind. “Have you told the Queen yet?”

Natalie shook her head. “No I haven’t. Actually I just made a definite decision right before you got here. I do have an audience with her this afternoon though so I was planning to tell her then.”

“When are you planning to go?”

“Probably right after I talk to the Queen, why?”

“So soon? Why? Why can’t you wait a few days at least?”

Natalie chuckled a bit. She knew Jupiter was trying to stall her. “No, it’s best if I go now,” she said gently and leaned over to hug her new friend. “Thank you for everything Jupiter.”

Jupiter felt tears well up in her eyes. She really had grown attached to Natalie. “You talk like you’re never coming back. You can’t do that, you have to come back and visit. We’ll miss you if you don’t.” Jupiter was trying her hardest not to let the tears flow.

“You know I’ll come back and visit,” Natalie said as she let Jupiter go. She could see the tears at the corners of her eyes. Natalie couldn’t help but wipe them away. “Aw come on Jupiter, none of that.”

A bit embarrassed, Jupiter finished the job and wiped the rest of the tears away from her face. “Sorry, I’ve never been good at this sort of thing. Didn’t I say I didn’t handle losing people close to me well?” Jupiter stood up from the bed. “I should be going. You have a lot to do before you meet with the Queen.”

Natalie nodded. “Yeah, I’ll see you later.”

Jupiter smiled at Natalie as she let herself out. She didn’t have much time so as soon as she was out of ear shot, Jupiter started to run.

A few hours later, Natalie made her way down to the main hall. When she walked in, everyone was there waiting for her.

“What? What’s all this?” she asked as she noticed the room had been modestly decorated as well.

“Welcome Charon,” Serenity said with a smile.

“Please, just Natalie. It was my name before I got here and once I leave I’ll be going back to it. I hope you understand.”

Serenity nodded smiling. “Of course but I do wish you’d reconsider Natalie. I do understand your need to leave though.”

“Natalie, you don’t have anything with you. You’re not taking your costume or anything?” Jupiter asked.

“Nope,” Natalie said smiling. “It just means I’ll have to come back.”

Jupiter smirked. “You bet it does but don’t worry, we’ll take care of it for you until you get back.”

“Thanks and thank you everyone for everything you’ve done for me and given me. I suppose it’s time to go.”

“Where are you heading?” Mercury asked.

“Well I thought I’d check out a few other worlds, places I thought were only stories, like here. Then I might head home for awhile so they know I’m alright.”

“Just be careful Natalie and remember what I told you. I don’t know what will happen if you break the taboo so be careful not to,” said Serenity.

“I’ll remember, I promise,” Natalie replied. “Well, now it’s really time to go.” Natalie lifted her staff getting ready to open the portal.

“Wait!” Jupiter called as she ran over and handed a box to Natalie. “I have a present for you.”

Natalie took the small box from Jupiter and opened its lid. “Jupiter…” she said, tears in her eyes now. In the box was a bracelet. On it hung a single charm, a rose. Natalie knew that roses were Jupiter’s thing. Natalie put the bracelet on and then hugged Jupiter once more.

“So you won’t forget.”

“Thank you,” Natalie said through tears.

She let Jupiter go and wiped her eyes. “Good-bye everyone!” Natalie said waving. She then placed her staff to the floor and the portal opened. “Thank you again!”

Stepping into the portal, Natalie was gone.


End file.
